LICKING COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — When you think of wild animals in central Ohio, a black bear likely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. That’s why one Licking County family said they couldn’t believe their eyes.  

It was an average afternoon drive home for father and son, Justin and Aaron Rhodes, when something walked into the road in front of them. 

“I didn’t even think it was real at first, so that’s why I had to do the double take,” Justin said. 

Aaron said he thought it was “just a weird looking dog”.

To their disbelief, it was a bear. The sighting comes just one year after the animal was spotted in Licking County for the first time in more than two decades.  

“It’s kind of hard to believe that they’re even around this area,” Justin said. “I’ve lived in this area for about 24 years now, so it’s been quite a while, and I’ve never seen one before.” 

These sightings are becoming more common. The Ohio Division of Wildlife said the black bear population is growing in the state, and they expect those trends to continue. Ohio saw a record number of confirmed sightings in 2025.   

Lindsey Krusling, a wildlife communications specialist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said they are seeing more breeding females establish homes in the state, signaling the species is returning. Experts said the work restoring natural forest land is a big reason why.  

“We’re starting to get some black bears coming in from neighboring states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky,” Krusling said. “They’re naturally crossing those state borders and coming back to Ohio because we have more of that habitat available to them, especially those forested areas.” 

As the black bear population grows, the Division of Wildlife is expanding its research. They are putting radio collars on some bears they find in the state to help track data, such as if the bears are staying here, how far they’ve traveled and if they’re successfully having cubs.  

“We’re trying to get quite a bit of data from these bears, and we’re super excited to see where this takes us,” Krusling said.  

The research is in the beginning stages, but they expect population growth to continue, Krusling said. 

Sighting reports can be submitted here to help the Division of Wildlife track black bear populations throughout the state.

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